Sports round-up

Baseball: Anthony Galea, a Canadian physician charged with smuggling unauthorised drugs into the United States for US athletes, has an arraignment and plea deal hearing before a judge on Wednesday. The session before US District Judge Richard Arcara could bring an end to a long-running saga that has resulted in five charges against the Toronto doctor. Tiger Woods, a 14-time major golf champion, and several Major League Baseball and National Football League players have confirmed they were treated by Galea, who is not authorised to practise in the United States.

Basketball, NBA: Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, who turns 33 in August, underwent a procedure in Germany on his arthritic right knee about a month ago, the Los Angeles Times reported. The newspaper, citing four unnamed sources, reported that the treatment, a derivation on platelet-rich plasma therapy that is designed to stimulate tissue repair without surgery, was the fourth procedure on Bryant’s knee since 2003.

Swimming: Freestyle sprinters Marieke Guehrer and Kyle Richardson have been officially added to the Australian team for this month’s FINA world championships in Shanghai. Guehrer and Richardson both qualified for selection on Wednesday after their 100m freestyle time trials and are now part of a 54-strong team for Shanghai. “With just over three weeks until the start of the world championships now is the time athletes and coaches are fine tuning their preparation and starting to taper for their events,” Australia head coach Leigh Nugent said.

Golf: US golf star Tiger Woods has appeared in his first new TV commercial since his epic fall from grace in 2009 over a sex scandal. The 35-year-old former world number one appeared in a 15-second commercial for a Japanese heat-rub which debuted on Japanese television on Friday. A spokesman for Kowa Co. which makes the Vantelin Kowa rub, Katsuhiro Kaji, said the firm made the offer to Woods late last year. He refused to reveal details of the deal.